Except for the original office building (which will be retrofitted and ultimately adapted to community use), the [Schlage] buildings are pretty much gone.

One of the things that has been interesting to me as a Valley resident is to see the way sight lines have opened up so dramatically with the disappearance of the buildings. This panorama and the ones I sent earlier this year are all taken from Tunnel Avenue looking west, and as the buildings have disappeared, the contours of San Bruno Mountain and McLaren Ridge have emerged to show the form of the valley.

The building with the red band on it more or less in the center of the panorama is a BofA at the corner of Leland and Bayshore. Leland Avenue is the commercial street of Visitacion Valley, and the eucalyptus trees to the left of the bank show where that street will extend into the site.

In the distance about a third in from the left – and above the old wooden SP maintenance sheds which still stand – one can also see a bit of the Sunnydale Public Housing site. THAT location is the subject of planning efforts by Mercy Housing to redevelop the site from the current arrangement of approx. 780 units comprised of 1930’s-40’s shipyard worker housing, adapted for current use, to approx. 1500 units of mixed housing including some market rate (no small endeavor there, but one which is capturing the attention of neighborhood activists and environmentalists).

As the last of the Schlage buildings came down it struck me that the opportunities to create developments that are relevant to each other as well as to the wider neighborhood are great, as they will be looking at each other from each end of the valley. With 1200-1600 units of housing plus retail and services slated for the Schlage site in a transit-oriented development (and also as a LEED Neighborhood Design pilot project), what has been and what is…is definitely not what will be.

Comments from “Plugged-In” Readers

Schlage Lock’s importance to Visitacion Valley and San Francisco as a whole should never be forgotten. Schlage Lock was founded in SF in the 1920s. As the company grew, it provided thousands of good paying jobs for the local workforce. Visitacion Valley grew up around Schlage Lock and in many ways the neighborhood was a self contained “company town”. The demise of Schlage Lock as a San Francisco based company is a classic story of globalization and outsourcing. By the mid 1980s, only vestiges of the company remained in San Francisco, yet the brand name lives on. Today only the original office building remains. The future of site is currently being discussed. Time will tell if the replacement lives up to the promise. Schlage Lock is Dead-Long Live Schlage Lock!

Remember, it’s the people who live there that makes the biggest difference, not the new developments.
A perfect example is 3rd St. Bay View area, lots of new development in the past 10 years. But strong arm robberies, vehicle theft and break-in’s, etc. are rampant and on the rise.

People must be on drugs if they think Sunnydale will have marketrate housing. The City views VV County as a dumping ground. They wouldn’t dare put any of the shit they’ve built there in the last ten years any other neighborhood.